Alex Eala hopes women’s tennis grows with staging of WTA 125 in PH

Alexandra “Alex” Eala has always emphasized that the Philippine Women’s Open is more than about her own performance—it is about putting the spotlight on local tennis.

Beyond that, the Filipina tennis star also hopes the tournament helps grow women’s tennis in the country.

Eala saw her campaign in the Philippine Women’s Open come to an end after a quarterfinal loss to Colombia’s Camila Osorio, 6-4, 6-4.

In the past days, the tournament has seen packed stadiums as Filipinos watch global tennis action, and Eala believes this is a stepping stone for people to help grow the sport in the country.

“In my opinion, women’s tennis especially has been overlooked for a long time,” Eala said.

“On top of tennis already not being such a popular sport here in the Philippines, I heard the other day that locally there are only eight professional tournaments for men around the country and only two for women.

“So to have a WTA event here, like I said, is a great stepping stone and a wake-up call for the people who are able to help and do something about it. There’s a lot of room for improvement, especially when there are only two professional tournaments for women,” she added.

Eala believes that increasing the number of tournaments will eventually lead to the rise of more Filipino champions.

“I think there’s a huge margin for improvement there, and Filipinos are super hardworking and super passionate. If we nourish our tennis players, then slowly we can start to build more and more champions.”

Despite her early exit, Eala is pleased with how the event has turned out and considers it a success.

“I think this tournament, although it’s not yet done, has been a great success,” she said.

“Just the turnout of people, seeing how much they’ve enjoyed it, and hearing the feedback from other players and people in the WTA, I think it couldn’t have turned out better for a first edition. I’m so happy I got to be a part of it and to see it all unfold.”

The Philippine Women’s Open runs until January 31.

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